About the IPCC

In the 1980s, the risk of human-induced climate change was increasingly being debated by scientists and policymakers, and the need for independent, scientific and technical advice to inform decision-making on this issue became apparent.

Its purpose then, as it is now, is to prepare a report on all aspects of climate change and its impacts, with a view to formulating realistic response strategies. The report is based on a review of all available, peer-reviewed, published scientific/technical literature. The information is assessed on a comprehensive, objective, open and transparent basis. Its reports are policy relevant but not policy prescriptive.

In more than two decades since its establishment, the IPCC has produced 5 reports.

Reports

The First Assessment Report (FAR) was produced in 1990. As a consequence of this report, the United Nations General Assembly decided to initiative negotiations for an effective framework convention on climate change (ultimately to be known as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), or more generally as the UN climate negotiations.

The Fourth Assessment Report: Climate Change (AR4) was produced in 2007.The same year, the IPCC was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize jointly with former US vice president Al Gore in recognitionof their work on climate change.

The Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) was produced in 2013/2014. It comprises three main reports, and a final Synthesis Report

The first report of AR5- from Working Group I - was released in September 2013 (The Physical Science Basis) and assesses the physical scientific aspects of climate change.

The facts...

The IPCC Synthesis report

The IPCC's Fifth Assessment Report represents seven years of work by more than a thousand scientists globally from 160 countries. It tells us that climate change is already affecting people and nature everywhere. Ocean acidification, sea level rise, extreme heat events, and profound changes in the Arctic show that climate change is already a fact. It tells us that we are the cause, and that our addiction to fossil fuels is the overwhelming source of the pollution that is changing our climate.